PAUL LEWIS / WASHINGTON DC & GUY NORRIS / LOS ANGELES
Boeing discusses Trent engine as it rethinks programme to meet low noise guarantees and improve performance
Boeing is discussing a rejig of its proposed 747-400X Quiet Longer Range (QLR) development to include offering the Rolls-Royce Trent 600 engine. The move is designed to satisfy airline demand for both a guaranteed London Heathrow QC2 noise performance and higher operating weights.
Boeing's decision to re-evaluate the programme follows its failure to date to secure any launch commitments, with its latest offer to Singapore Airlines (SIA) expiring last month.
A Trent 600 offering on the 747-400X QLR, which still hinges on R-R and Boeing establishing a convincing business case for the costly development, would be a major boost for the UK engine maker, which has been lobbying for a place on the new derivative since last year.
It could pose serious questions for General Electric which, as the lead candidate for the present configuration, would be forced to consider investment in a more extensive development of the CF6-80C2 to meet both QC2 and a 418,100kg (921,000lb) higher maximum take-off weight. This might entail a new larger fan and nacelle and GE resurrecting its 2001 Next Generation CF6 (NGen6) strategy plan.
The GE/Pratt & Whitney Engine Alliance is not thought to be under consideration despite having earlier proposed a version of the GP7000 for the abandoned 747-500X/600X and 747X projects.
Boeing's move to re-open talks with R-R follows a lukewarm market response to its original 747-400X QLR plan, based on the current CF6-80C2 and an entry-into-service (EIS) target of mid-2004, which the Trent 600 cannot meet.
Although the CF6 version guaranteed relatively low-cost and on-time development, Boeing admits that it could not be sure of meeting QC2 at any higher MTOW than 397,250kg. R-R claims the Trent 600 would meet both, but would not meet an EIS before the third quarter 2005.
"Customers do like the idea of QC2 at all weights," admits Boeing, adding that the overall slack demand for higher capacity aircraft is also pulling it back from its original EIS target, giving it the "opportunity" to study revisions. "So we are evaluating other options and working with Rolls-Royce to see what they might be able to bring to the table, though we have nothing resembling an agreement with them at this point," says Boeing.
Many prospective 747-400X QLR operators are major Trent customers, including Cathay Pacific Airways, Lufthansa, Qantas and SIA.
Boeing received firm board authority to offer the CF6-80C2B9F/B10F and P&W PW4062 powered variants early this year, and only reached the firm configuration milestone on the -400X QLR on 3 July. P&W, which originally offered the baseline PW4062 for the aircraft, is still renegotiating a place for its engine around a revised PW4000 with improved fan, inlet and primary and secondary nozzle noise treatments.
Source: Flight International
